Dumb accident

[HeyUvaVT]

Found this posted on another site...thought you may want to take a look at what happens when a truck owners guts get the best of his brains

[wrenchbender]

Well at least the skid steer was secured. And I bet from now on the driver will realize what the pucker factor is.

[King of Obsolete]

that guy did chain the skidder down correctly. usually the load is in the other dtch from the truck. also to see the truck and trailer still connected is unusal too.

thansk for sharing

thansk

[HeyUvaVT]

Further info...that was apparently coming from a dealer's lot...the employees of the lot secured it on the trailer and warned him that the truck wouldnt control the trailer and skid...according the driver the truck began fishtailing and went out of control and the whole rig rolled twice and came to rest as pictured...he walked away from it with minor cuts and bruises

[wrenchbender]

I don't think it was a CAM trailer cause it ain't bent and look s like the wiring is intact.

[jmac]

I think that the rental store should share some of responsibility for this. They allowed this guy who didn't understand what was going to happen to drive out of the parking lot. Shame on them!

[Jeff D.]

:eek: I bet that was a scary ride!

I wonder what is being pointed out in the pic with the arrow and the circled area?

[HeyUvaVT]

:eek: I bet that was a scary ride!

I wonder what is being pointed out in the pic with the arrow and the circled area?

the original poster of the pics was an employee at the rental store...he circled that part of the cab to illustrate that the trailer rolled at least once due to the angle of the cab being different than how it would have been if it had just gone down like it is laying in those pics...this was confirmed after talking to the driver the next day

[Squizzy246B]

Its a good job the trackie was lashed with nice heavy chain for the size...and I hate to be picky because it obviously did the job...but that lashing arrangement wouldn't be legal here because (even though it a mini and is probably OK in the States) the chain is continuous going from one side to the other.

At least it was chained and it did the job so the mini didn't kill some innocent driver.

Thanks HeyUva

[Steve Frazier]

I think that the rental store should share some of responsibility for this. They allowed this guy who didn't understand what was going to happen to drive out of the parking lot. Shame on them!
I disagree. According to HeyUvaVT, they warned him of the possible consequences and he took the risk anyway. I've got a problem with people shirking responsibility for their own actions, there's far too much of it in this country anymore.

[wrenchbender]

I disagree. According to HeyUvaVT, they warned him of the possible consequences and he took the risk anyway. I've got a problem with people shirking responsibility for their own actions, there's far too much of it in this country anymore.

:exactly :iagree

[dayexco]

:iagree :iagree I disagree. According to HeyUvaVT, they warned him of the possible consequences and he took the risk anyway. I've got a problem with people shirking responsibility for their own actions, there's far too much of it in this country anymore.

[fhdesign]

I disagree. According to HeyUvaVT, they warned him of the possible consequences and he took the risk anyway. I've got a problem with people shirking responsibility for their own actions, there's far too much of it in this country anymore.

I also agree

[PSDF350]

I disagree. According to HeyUvaVT, they warned him of the possible consequences and he took the risk anyway. I've got a problem with people shirking responsibility for their own actions, there's far too much of it in this country anymore.

Amen. Thing is to it just didn't all of a sudden start fishtailing. I'll bet it built up as his speed picked up. So his fualt for either not slowing and going very slow or brining back to then come back with appropriate towing viehical.

[Squizzy246B]

I wonder how many drivers are actually taught how to get out of a backslapper.....breaking can be the worst thing to do. Hard thing to teach but at least they could be told the technique.

BTW...would would the legal (manufacturer's) towing limit for that vehicle??

[CM1995]

I disagree. According to HeyUvaVT, they warned him of the possible consequences and he took the risk anyway. I've got a problem with people shirking responsibility for their own actions, there's far too much of it in this country anymore.

:iagree Absolutely!

People like this are the reason why we pay so much for insurance!

[RollOver Pete]

From the looks of where the Cat is on the trailer, maybe loading it more to the front would have prevented it from fish tailing? Not enough tongue weight makes it happen every time. :cool:

[digger242j]

From the looks of where the Cat is on the trailer, maybe loading it more to the front would have prevented it from fish tailing? Not enough tongue weight makes it happen every time. :cool:


I had the same sort of experience hauling a mini-ex with a one ton dump. It's amazing how much difference moving the load a foot forward on the trailer deck can make in handling qualities.

And I'm afraid I'm going to have to side with jmac. They turned the guy loose, who clearly didn't know the difference, with a vehicle that was clearly unfit for towing their machine, and even got involved to the point of binding it down for him. What if' he'd shown up with an SUV with a hitch, or wanted to haul a D6 with that truck? Sometimes "responsibility" means you have to say, "I'm not going to allow this to happen".

[Squizzy246B]

I think that the rental store should share some of responsibility for this. They allowed this guy who didn't understand what was going to happen to drive out of the parking lot. Shame on them!

BTW...would would the legal (manufacturer's) towing limit for that vehicle??

Some are quick to agree with Steve and I strongly agree with individuals being held accountable for their actions but down here its like this:

The rental yard most not let an unsafe load out of their yard. They have a responsibility to the law/public and at any rate their own insurers will not honour a claim in such a circumstance. The first thing that happens at our rental yard is they come with a vernier caliper to check the diameter of the tow ball. Thats why I asked if anybody could determine the towing capacity of the vehicle.

The rental yard may now have to pursue the dealer of their own accord and the dealer's insurer may bail out on him too for knowingly doing something unlawful. The driver may well have been the meat in the sandwhich...told by his boss to go get the machine with the vehicle...whatever..I'm only speculating on very limited info.

The rental yard should not have let it go if they knew the tow was unlawful. They should have rung the dealer and told him to get a proper tow. If I go to the pit and ask the loader driver to put 8 tonnes on my 4 tonner he wont load it because he would be as dumb as me.

If you load something yourself and it all goes pear shaped then you have only got yourself to blame. If you are involved with helping someone else do something unlawful...then those bloody lawyers will likely come after you...no need to like it but it seems thats the way it is. At least the rental guy would appear to have warned the driver in this case so as Steve says he has to carry the weight...but I think I know what would of happened if someone had been injured. JMHO

[digger242j]

Squizzy and digger thinking almost the same thing at the same time, twice in two days. :eek: This is getting scary...

[Countryboy]

Squizzy, in reference to your towing limit question, it would most likely be 5,000 lbs or less. That is a midsize truck, a Dodge Dakota, which is in the smaller than 1/2 ton class in the US.

My Nissan Frontier probably has near the same towing specs as the Dakota. I wouldn't want to tow that machine with my Nissan if the machine was being given away for free. :spaz

[bobcatuser]

I couldn’t imagine pulling a 9,500 lb load with a dodge dakota. The driver should be charged with criminal neglance. In the province of BC all insurance would be void and the driver would be billed for any damage to public property.

[Squizzy246B]

Squizzy, in reference to your towing limit question, it would most likely be 5,000 lbs or less. That is a midsize truck, a Dodge Dakota, which is in the smaller than 1/2 ton class in the US.

My Nissan Frontier probably has near the same towing specs as the Dakota. I wouldn't want to tow that machine with my Nissan if the machine was being given away for free. :spaz

Thanks CB..a 247B is around 7000lbs wet so this guy is well outa line then.

bobcatuser I couldn’t imagine pulling a 9,500 lb load with a dodge dakota. The driver should be charged with criminal neglance. In the province of BC all insurance would be void and the driver would be billed for any damage to public property.

Exactly, and if the rental yard is the owner of the machine....well they were not looking after their own interests when they let it go out...even if the dealer does fix it. The there is the legals facing the driver.

[jmac]

Two stupid people don't make anyone smart.

[cat320]

I don't think it was a CAM trailer cause it ain't bent and look s like the wiring is intact.

looks like a towmaster trailers

[Steve Frazier]

According to Dodge's website, the current Dakota can tow up to 7000 lbs., still much less than the 247/trailer combo. This looks like an older model so I wouldn't be surprised if its towing capacity is less. I actually thought the machine looked like it was loaded correctly, it sits just ahead of the center of the two axles which would put a fair amount of tongue weight on the trailer. This is about the same point I load my machine for the best handling. You can cause poor handling by putting too much weight on the tongue, your steering becomes less responsive.

I'm aware of what our laws have become, I made my statement about responsibility based on common sense, not law. I'm sure some attorney would be able to convince a jury that the yard the machine was towed from was somehow at least partly responsible for this accident. But think about this a minute, the driver of the vehicle will be the one receiving the tickets for this accident, not the yard personnel. They might become involved in a civil suit, but not the V & T portion of it. This was my point.

Our justice system has become a playground for greedy attorneys looking for a fast buck. As I see it, many laws which are passed these days are not so much to improve public safety as they are to give attorneys another avenue to bring a lawsuit by, thereby making it easier to fill their pockets. We all pay for this in one way or another, either by increased prices of a product, higher insurance rates or increased taxes if it is a public entity that must pay a claim. This is not to mention the inconvenience of using a tool that has had a "safety feature" added to it after losing a suit to some idiot that has used their product incorrectly.

Look at what has happened to many of the products we use in daily life. Small homeowner type lawn mowers are difficult to start and must be restarted every time you need to move debris out of its path. Why? Because too many idiots stuck their hands under the machine while it was running and came out with detached appendages. McDonald's has had to adjust the temperature of their coffee and snowblowers are as difficult to run as mowers now too. All due to idiocy of the public who had accidents misusing them.

Our government was not formed to protect the citizens from themselves and their own stupidity!! It was formed to protect our God given rights, which are slowly being chipped away by the government itself. If this trend continues, how long will it be before we are not able to buy circular or chain saws? Will knives only be allowed a certain degree of sharpness? I'm willing to bet that 100 years from now, many of the tools we use as contractors will no longer be available for safety's sake.

How long before this "protection" extends beyond physical safety? Will the government become involved in protecting us after making stupid investments? What if our feelings get hurt if we must sit through a prayer we might not want to hear? Wait a minute.....that's been addressed.....prayer in schools have been eliminated.

In this case, HeyUvaVT says the yard personnel warned the driver of the risk he was taking in towing this machine. I wasn't there to hear it, but I'll take his word for it. This driver chose to disregard their advice and paid the consequence for it.He is responsible for his own actions, no one else. And yes, someone, even an innocent bystander could have been hurt or killed.....but they weren't. Life is a series of lessons learned, and this appears to be one of them. I doubt this driver will attempt to do this again.

Did anyone notice the boom operator standing under the boom while loading the wreck on the flatbed? If the boom fails and injures this guy, are the bystanders responsible for his injuries because they didn't make him move? How about the manufacturer of the boom for building such a hazardous tool? Maybe the driver of the wrecked truck is responsible, since without his stupid move the operator wouldn't need to be there in the first place!

Sorry for the rant guys, I see this "Land of Opportunity" slowly becoming a land of sterility through its protectiveness.

[digger242j]

You make lots of good points there, Steve, and I'm in agreement for the most part. There's far, far too much shifting of responsibility to somebody else in today's world.

This goes beyond legal liability though, and it's there that I'm focusing.

My view of this particular incident, is as I said. The guys who chained that machine on the trailer knew he was about to do something hazardous, and failed to intervene. Even further, they assisted him. If he'd managed to kill sombody, and you'd been the one to chain that machine down for him and send him on his way, would you be able to sleep tonight?

I see it in the same light as helping a drunk leaving the bar to find his car keys.

[CM1995]

Right on the money Steve!:thumbsup

Our rights to Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness are being eroded on a daily basis. It seems like these days nothing is ever anyones fault - they are all "victims" of someone elses actions. Personal responsibility has went the way of the dinosaours in this country and if this trend is not reversed we will need a permit to take a dump and a full body suit with a respirator to legally go outside.

It has been posted that the rental yard warned this driver of the safety issues assocated with this contraption, which I can totally see them doing.
If this is true then this accident is totally the drivers fault. It is the responsibility of the driver to inspect the load for distribution, safe securement and legal weight limits - regardless of who loads it or chains it down.

The argument that he did not know that this truck would not safely pull this weight is a bunch of hooey. If the driver did not understand that this truck would not pull the weight safely, then it is his responsibilty to know this prior to picking up the machine. Furthermore if the driver did not understand this or refused to listen, then does he really need to be renting a skid steer?

What if they would have refused to let him rent it and pull it with this truck? What's next - he sues the rental yard over some kind of discrimination, violating his "civil rights" or his self esteem has been irreversibly damaged because he does not have a bigger truck and that is just not "fair"? LOL That's the kind of crap that businesses have to put up with. Great example is the hot coffee at McDonalds - now you can't even get a stinking cup of hot coffee because some numb nut spilled it in their lap.

I was in one of those bed and bath stores the other day with my wife. I came across a sausage grinder that had a warning sticker on it that consisted of a hand being put into the grinder with a red circle and bar across it. Geez - if you are so stupid you don't know not to stick you hand in a meat grinder:badidea then do you really have any business buying one?

Try as they might - the government cannot legistlate intelligence, all they can do is make the rest of us suffer for someone else's stupidity.:Pointhead

Ok I am climbing of my :soapbox

[Blademan]

Thanks for the thread and picture posting HeyUvaVT . :drinkup :notworthy .


I really don't have anything new to add to this except to say that I too think if the guy chaining up the machine even [I]thought[I] it was a unsafe load , then he should've put the brakes on this endeavor in the first place , rather then take a chance and trusting the driver . A warning and best wishes with good intentions just doesn't cut it anymore . Sad really :(

[jmac]

All very good points and I can't disagree with the fact that you are responsible for your actions. Consider this; the rental yard owned the machine and trailer so it would be in their discretion on who rents the machine. No gray area here either yes or no. It would make complete sense to me to have a policy of only renting machines to people that have proper tow vehicle. This is common sense. I would also point out that if you see someone (even a complete stranger) doing something that could cause death or serious injury to others or the stranger, is it not the rite thing to do to point that out. This is what the rental yard did so they took it to at least that step but the fact that it was the rental yards property and they had allot to loose than they should have just said no. Isn't this like me renting my dump truck for money to someone without a license? Then that driver went out killed someone with my dump truck? I new it was wrong to rent my truck to someone with out a license, so am I not responsible for my actions? The rental company did this for profit, no other reason than that. They understood the consequences of their actions and choose not to consider them.
You can't relieve them of their responsibility in this.

[stuvecorp]

Was the driver a contractor or homeowner?

We have a Towmaster tilt like that but I always back our skid on the trailer and it is always towed by a dual wheeled f350 or f450. We have towed our Polaris Asl300 behind a f150 and I thought it was scary, even with brakes all the way around.

I agree with Steve about personal responsablity but the yard loaded the skid and chained it down furthering the train wreck potential. They could have stopped this from happening.

Thanks for posting, good discussion.

[atgreene]

I couldn’t imagine pulling a 9,500 lb load with a dodge dakota. The driver should be charged with criminal neglance. In the province of BC all insurance would be void and the driver would be billed for any damage to public property.


There's a difference between pulling a 9500 lb load with a DRIVER that knows what he's doing and a moron driver. Lets face it, if you're grossly overweight with a trailer behind an underated truck, do you get on the highway? :confused:

This moron deserved to wreck, as long as the rental yard told him it didn't look safe, what are they supposed to do, start checking weight ratings on pick-ups and trailers? As long as they said sign here, it's up to you to haul it safely, I guess they did their part. For their sake, I hope they sold him the extra insurance.

[HeyUvaVT]

I checked in with the guy who posted this that works at the rental yard again..they have decided to change their policy on loading things for customers...no more overweight rigs leaving...they are in the process of cataloging all available towing configurations and ratings for toyota ford dodge chevy and nissan and will not allow anyone over the rating to leave...this truck also didnt even have a brake contoller on it which is another thing they wont allow any more...so maybe some good will come of this...but I would hate to be the poor person in charge of the cataloging of all that info and enforcing it on harry homeowner the weekend warrior :Banghead :Banghead

[atgreene]

Yea, what are they supposed to do, make harry homeowner test his brakes etc... when he is loading, check the chains for rating, look for breakaway devices, etc... etc....?

Seems like harry homeowner needs to take the responsibility by signing on the dotted line that he knows what he's doing and will do it safely.:Pointhead

[jmac]

If Harry Home owner drives up with a truck that anybody with any bit of common sense could tell was to small than yes they should not be able to take the machine with them. This ws not a close call, this was simple for any one to see the dangers. Someone who was not in the construction biz could tell this was too small of a truck!

[atgreene]

If Harry Home owner drives up with a truck that anybody with any bit of common sense could tell was to small than yes they should not be able to take the machine with them. This ws not a close call, this was simple for any one to see the dangers. Someone who was not in the construction biz could tell this was too small of a truck!


Could have hauled it with a new Toyota 3/4 ton? How bought a heavy half ton? A dodge 1/2 ton? Should they check the trailer brakes to be sure they work? How about tire tread depth? It's a slippery slope. If they are hooking the trailer to a Subaru outback, maybe it's obvious, but when it's hooked to a truck, at what point is it too small?

Who's going to want to run a rental yard if you have to do a complete safety inspection on someones vehicle before you can let them rent. I tend to believe that Darwin was right, the morons tend to end up t!ts-up, and will weed themselves out. Regardless of how hard we try, idiots will find a way to hurt themselves.

[stuvecorp]

Keeping the equipment away from homeowners would be a good start. It is scary that load left the yard without a brake controller too. This was just a bad deal.

[itsgottobegreen]

Tell customers there are no trailers for rent anymore. Anything requiring a trailer must be deliveried by rental company roll back only.

[HeyUvaVT]

Tell customers there are no trailers for rent anymore. Anything requiring a trailer must be deliveried by rental company roll back only.

that sounds like the best compromise to me....i agree that it would be easy to tell that anything smaller than a half ton truck is just rediculous when used to tow anything more than a small boat or a lawnmower...but once you get to the half ton trucks the lines get a bit blurred...most of us on this site forget that just because its common sense to us doesnt mean that its that obvious to anyone else

i would just like to ask one question...if that homeowner was crazy enough to try something that dangerous towing it home..just imagine what he might have done with the loader once he got it home for the weekend and was tryin to get maybe just another couple inches closer that that ravine..or a few feet farther toward the pond etc etc etc :eek:

[thejdman04]

Yea, what are they supposed to do, make harry homeowner test his brakes etc... when he is loading, check the chains for rating, look for breakaway devices, etc... etc....?

Seems like harry homeowner needs to take the responsibility by signing on the dotted line that he knows what he's doing and will do it safely.:Pointhead

Exactly, at least the t hign was chained down more then I see a lot of times. If you bring a truck trailer in a rental ayard is the employee supposed to inspect the tires brakes etc??? Are rental yard enmmployees dot cops??? INspectors??? Even if you have E rated tires if they are under inflated could blow, send the truck fishtailing and roll, are they supposed to check tire inflation too?????? Joe blow brings in this trailer and rig, you tell him this is the amchine it weighs this much and he loads it (key there dont let the rental yard employee load it), hes responsible. I do think ford gm and toyota are overly zelous about 10000lb tow rating w/these 1/2 tons, esp w/the typical homeowner driving.

[twostick]

From the looks of where the Cat is on the trailer, maybe loading it more to the front would have prevented it from fish tailing? Not enough tongue weight makes it happen every time. :cool:

:iagree

Kevin

[surfer-joe]

Anybody driving a Dodge, is a danger to himself and others.

[Squizzy246B]

From one of our local hire yards:

[Dieselglory]

Hello Gentleman, my first post so i hope i dont step off the deep end here, but someone asked "wonder how many people know how to recover from Wig Wag or whatever he said... short story... had a mini ex from a local rental place about 2 miles from my house, well i did what i had to do with it and looked at the clock and had 12 mins to go before thet closed for the day and i had to pay another day rental, so i load it back up on trailer with only 1 chain on the front, Yes i know very stupid and was a bad decision on my part, so anyway get about halfway back and goin around 40 mph if it didnt start to fish tail bad and i mean bad almost a 45 degreee angle. From what little expierence i have towing , i throttled up a bit to try to get trailer straight worked pretty well but was still fishin so as i let off throt. i did some stab braking to try and get it straight. well got it pulled over with no damage anywhere. check trailer to see why this happend and see the one chain i used broken and ex all the way at the rear of trailer. anyway was that the correct means of regaining control? thanks ron... ps take it easy on the flaming please... Ron

[Countryboy]

Welcome to HEF Dieselglory! :drinkup

[atgreene]

I've always hit the trailer brake control when this has happened, then repositioned the load to balance it properly.

Welcome to HEF.

[SouthOnBeach]

i think what people have said is right. the rental yards need to do a little restricting on the vehicial used to pull something with. i say that because some people get big heads when they have a "truck", they think they can pull anything they want to pull. :Pointhead then we have the issue of does the driver know how to pull a trailer :confused: i learned quickly at a young age how to load a trailer and pull it. making sure the togune weight was right and everything was secured well. how to correct a fishtail properly and stop straightly on ice(if there is such a thing :beatsme at least i think i can). in short though i think that people need to take responsibilty for their own actions. just look around at all the warning labels we have stuck to EVERYTHING. society needs to let nature take its course to weed out some of the idiots out there.

[OKYLE]

I can see this happening quite easily lol.

I was pulling a Skid steer i had just bought at an auction with a trailer, on my 1 ton dump truck, anything over 45 mph, and that trailer would go crazy and start slipping and sliding all across the road.

I can easily see it flipping, and taking the truck with it.... if the driver was that stupid, not to ease off the gas and glide back down to speed again.

I guarantee he caused this by braking in fear after seeing the trailer swerving all over the road.

This is how I imagine he did this.

Trailer started swerving all over the road, fool didnt have correct trailer brake power setup properly.

So trailer is at a bad angle, he slams on his brakes, very heavy skid steer + trailer effect trailer brakes. The trailer brakes didnt provide enough stopping force to bring the weight off the truck, and truck stopped faster than they were capable, Threw the rear of his truck sideways, throwing his entire truck going diagonally across the highway and flipping as he over corrected.

Its amusing in a bad sorta way :)

[richardcatdaddy]

Dunno,but I know he was pulling more than he should have been,no trailer brakes either I will bet.:Pointhead

[KeppleServices]

I saw almost the exact same thing happen comming out of the bobcat dealer in Biloxi Ms... Guy buys a brand new loader, I think it was a T250 or something of the like, and he is driving a F150 with a trailer that MIGHT hold the loader. They tell him time and time again, even I SAID it was not a good idea to the guy, and he just shrugged us all off. Loaded up the loader, chained it down (he did this ok, so i will give him a tiny bit of crdit), and left... The dealer is right off of I10, and I would say about 5 minutes later we hear this horrible screeching sound, its him and the trailer is ALL over the road... it takes him off the side of the road and into the woods as the trailer passes the truck... hammered the bed of the truck, trailer messed up, you name it... the loader did just fine thouh. :D

[richardcatdaddy]

You still hate to see something like that.I mean try to explain that thats not the smartest thing to do with a half ton truck thats not even tow rated for the weight of a bobcat,no trailer brakes and he still wont listen to reason even when the bobcat people tell him its a really bad idea to try that.On the other hand you got to admit he learned a hard lesson the expensive way,and I guess he willl listen the next time someone says hey dude bad idea. Maybe.:usa

[tuney443]

Rental yards should examine very carefully the towing vehicle before they let Daryl-Daryl{no offense to any smart Daryls out there} hook up to their trailer or if they come in with their own trailer.I see stupidity all the time when I'm at my friend's rental yard.I've talked to him till I'm blue in the face--he just doesn't get it.On the flip side,a friend of mine tried renting a tow dolly to move a car from U-haul.Their stupid computer said his truck wasn't heavy enough to hook up to their little dolly trailer.It certainly was--he got it elsewhere.

[richardcatdaddy]

Yup,rental stores should have pretty strick guidelines about stuff like that,so do but most dont.Till some one gets hurt or worse and the store is sued they wont learn or listen.IMO.:usa

[skata]

one thing you should check is the tire pressures on the truck and trailer.
usually i max out the pressure. soft tires flex too much and can cause side-to-side motion.

[Camarogenius]

First let me say that I AM NOT DEFENDING DAKOTA BOY!!!
That said, It is possible to haul in excess of the door sticker safely, with the right training and experience.
I'm a hotshotter. I run a one ton dodge and a 53' gooseneck, plated for 45,000 GCVW. (this is being replaces with an F-800)
The key is experience and training. Knowing where to place the load on the trailer, and how to handle a heavy load with light equipment.
Not being equipped with a brake controller is a huge red flag. Lack of trailer brakes is about 65% of the cause of the mess in the pictures. I cant judge the other 35% without seeing where the load was positioned before the wreck.
Rental trailers are notorious for being abused by people constantly. Given the weight of the trailer and load vs. the weight of the tow vehicle, even a small misalignment in the trailer axles could have started a back and forth sway that took over when the driver hit the brakes.
I deliver equipment for a few rental companies, and there's one locally that I know will refuse to rent to a customer if they don't have the right equipment to haul the rented equipment, and they won't spring for delivery.
I was in there one day unloading two large compressors, and some guy was calling the owner every name in the book, because he wouldn't let the guy haul a skid steer on what amounted to a home made wreck of a trailer that had no brakes or lights, and mobile home axles under it.

[RT Engineering]

Hi Everyone,

I must say that I agree with almost everything people have written above. I think the driver should be responsible for his own vehicle. If the guy was trying to pull my tractor away with that rig, I would check that he had brakes, on the trailer, and actually had driven with a trailer before.

Believe it or not, in California, that load would require a class A license. To tow any trailer with a GVW greater than 10,000 Lbs requires the commercial class A drivers license. I know that's how I got my Class A. Yes it was a fix it ticket. And yes I was able to take the driving test with my F350, and my empty tag trailer with a 14000 GVW. I later added the air brake endorsement when I bought my Ford L9000.

One other item, about the way that machine was chained down. Although it did work fine, the pictures prove that. The California Highway Patrol started requiring a minimum of four seperate tie downs for each machine. So you need to have at least two binders on the front and two on the back. If you wnat to move two machines on a trailer, there needs to be eight binders. If you are moving an excavator, backhoe, or boom lift, etc. there must be an additional chain on the boom. I have heard from my lowbed company that it is about a $600 ticket for the first offense. I am lucky, I never have been stopped for this one.

Just a little heads up for everyone.

Thanks,

RT

[dumptrucker]

Not to get off subject too much , but I aggree with steve. There are too many people to stupid to recognize that they have to take resposibility for themselves. Even if the rental yard did tell him to stop , he didn't. What are they supposed to do beat him to the ground and restrain him? Then they would be brought up on assault charges.
Is it the keyboards fault I mispell words?
A few years back we had a dwi case near here that the driver left his motel drunk , drove down the highway and crashed into a tow truck driver picking up a broken down vehicle on the side of the road. Luckily no one was killed.
the idiot behind the wheel had the hotel manager in court saying he should have stopped him when he checked out. The manager did call the cops! It was the tow truck drivers fault that he got hit because of the flasshing lights, and it was the broken down vehicles owner fault because had his car not broke down , the tow truck wouldn't have been there with the flashing lights and he wouldn't have hit anyone. Thank god they had some people on that jury with common sense. They locked him up!!

Not only are there to many people that don't take resposibility for their actions, too many of them think they can get a free ride because of their stupidity! :soapbox
I'll get down now.

[PSDF350]

Nothing to do with hualing, just taking responsability for ones actions.

On aol news yesterday (I didn't read story) there was a story of some moron that is suing a florist for $1,000,000. Jist of it is I guess he is getting devorcided because wife found out about affair through florist. Dont know if flowers were sent to wrong place or just the bill. Like I said didn't read story. But it seems to me he's the idiot that was cheating and got cuaght not the florist.

[4x4ford]

the rental yards around here will not let you leave their yard with out the proper equipment to haul what you are renting they will not tie it down for you but they will loan you chains to tie it down right to use their trailer you have to have a 3/4 ton or larger truck with a 2 5/16 ball

[Camarogenius]

Nothing to do with hualing, just taking responsability for ones actions.

On aol news yesterday (I didn't read story) there was a story of some moron that is suing a florist for $1,000,000. Jist of it is I guess he is getting devorcided because wife found out about affair through florist. Dont know if flowers were sent to wrong place or just the bill. Like I said didn't read story. But it seems to me he's the idiot that was cheating and got cuaght not the florist.

It's people like this that make me wish God would dump some bleach in the gene pool.:guns

[CM1995]

It's people like this that make me wish God would dump some bleach in the gene pool.:guns

I second the motion and all in favor - say "aye".:usa

[PSDF350]

Aye!!!!!

[nedly05]

Aye

[9420pullpan]

i saw this over on DHS
check out the LINK (http://forums.dhsdiecast.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=108594) for more pics

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[MEENGREEN]

He was prolly the guy doing 80mph and changing lanes to pass everyone! Glad he's OK.

[telescooper]

What were they thinking hooking to the stick on the excavator?:Pointhead

[diversified man]

wow that was a stupid move who sits sideways on the side of a hill some people just dont get it! all i know it if that guy worked for me he would have hoped he got hurt during that casue i probably would have hurt him .

[Eric]

i think what people have said is right. the rental yards need to do a little restricting on the vehicial used to pull something with.

I agree. I worked for a rental company for a few years. Sunstate Equipment. Best job I ever had. Anyway, we would NOT allow a customer to do this. Three quater ton or better, or he wouldn't leave the yard. We would deliver it for them or wait for them to borrow a real truck and come back.

[Turbo21835]

wow that was a stupid move who sits sideways on the side of a hill some people just dont get it! all i know it if that guy worked for me he would have hoped he got hurt during that casue i probably would have hurt him .

Kind of uncalled for when you dont know the story.

From the operator himself
That machine had 110 hours on it when that happened. I was in the cab definately not one of my finer moments. I've been operating since I'm 6 years old. I was backfilling the drainage rings when the two feet of frost I was sitting on gave way. I thought I was far enough away that it wouldn't go over so I raised the boom so I wouldn't hit the precast. I pulled to hard a jerked the machine and she started to flip. I was straight over the side when it went for some strange reason I closed my eyes and swung to the right. As the machine went over the bucket got embedded in the only rings that were backfilled. Just dumb luck I guess. Those rings are 18 feet deep. We got some big cables and pulled that 300 over with a d65 and a 744h. I went over at 8:30 am and was running at 10am. No damage to the machine, not even a broken mirror. Someone was watching over me that day. The logistics of the job is why I was backfilling over the side. The loaders were doing other thing so I had to walk each bucket to the hole. Sometimes we do things were not supposed to and its catches up to us, in this case the only damage was the top two rings of that one pool.

None of us ever give much thought to 2feet of frost giving way below us. We all do some hairy things when it comes to pipe work. Ive had to sit on top of trenches not much wider than the machine to backfill/compact them. Its part of the job

[Reuben]

Kind of uncalled for when you dont know the story.

From the operator himself
That machine had 110 hours on it when that happened. I was in the cab definately not one of my finer moments. I've been operating since I'm 6 years old. I was backfilling the drainage rings when the two feet of frost I was sitting on gave way. I thought I was far enough away that it wouldn't go over so I raised the boom so I wouldn't hit the precast. I pulled to hard a jerked the machine and she started to flip. I was straight over the side when it went for some strange reason I closed my eyes and swung to the right. As the machine went over the bucket got embedded in the only rings that were backfilled. Just dumb luck I guess. Those rings are 18 feet deep. We got some big cables and pulled that 300 over with a d65 and a 744h. I went over at 8:30 am and was running at 10am. No damage to the machine, not even a broken mirror. Someone was watching over me that day. The logistics of the job is why I was backfilling over the side. The loaders were doing other thing so I had to walk each bucket to the hole. Sometimes we do things were not supposed to and its catches up to us, in this case the only damage was the top two rings of that one pool.

None of us ever give much thought to 2feet of frost giving way below us. We all do some hairy things when it comes to pipe work. Ive had to sit on top of trenches not much wider than the machine to backfill/compact them. Its part of the job

You are right we do do some hairy things but.....I am sure you will never put your self in that position again......which in it self speaks volumes......( other wise you should never have been in that position in the first place right.)